Vendetta
by Triumvir
Summary: My Homeworld2 in the works fan fic, set about 50 years after the war with the Vaygr.
1. Chapter I So Close

**Chapter I: So close**  
Aram watched closely as the numbers whirred downwards towards zero on the rangefinder.  
Outside the view port, the purple stillness of hyperspace stretched of for as far as the eye could see, a foggy nothingness, which was impossible to bring into focus, far, far away in the distance, lightning flashed. The size of the bolts could not be judged from this distance, but Aram shuddered at the though of what it would do to his ship none the less. His ship was a lovely little vessel; he had bought it from some wandering trader…he couldn't remember their name. Bargain price, too, all they had wanted was a thousand credits and local stellar cartography information. It was a compact ship, which, the trader had assured him, packed a large amount of firepower into a corvette-sized hull. It hadn't come with a hyperdrive though, the trader's excuse was that their hyperdrives would not be compatible with Hiigara and other built up planets quantum detector arrays. Aram had waved that away as not being a problem; he could scavenge the families old Chiriwar barges hyperdrive. No one used it anymore. He wished he had pressed for a hyperdrive for the ship…this drive was unbearably slow.   
His ship, _Shining Wish_, spoke to him as the numbers neared the magic two thousand mark.  
[Prepare for hyperspace exodus, Aram]  
He pulled his seat forward, the adaptive cushioning moving to support his neck.   
[Ten seconds till reversion]  
Damn! He was fumbling with the restraints, trying to get them locked into place. He was so excited about being here. With a sigh of relief, he strapped himself in just as the computer announced it was shutting down the hyper jump drive.  
The purpleness around him receded away to nothing, becoming insubstantial, then nothing. A silent rumble swept through the ship as the hyper drive jettisoned excess core material.  
There it was. A shining blue and green jewel, more precious to his people than all the resources in the galaxy, Silently threading its path through the cosmos.  
[Welcome to Hiigara…]  
Thirteen separate incoming communication channels cut off the ships voice. He squinted as the cacophony assaulted his ears.  
'_Wish_, one at a time, please!' he asked the ship.  
[Filtering…]  
Red warning lights lit up on the console, multiple acquisition locks painting his small ship. Panicking, he undid the seat restraints, frustratingly easy this time, and pushed his face against the view port to see what was going on.  
'Oh…damn…'  
[I am transferring the highest ranked speaker to the communications channel Aram]  
Aram sunk down into his chair, heart beating and sweat beginning to bead upon his forehead.  
'Pilot of the _Shining Wish_, this is Admiral Ses-Nabaal of the Hiigaran Defence Forces, aboard the Dreadnaught _Twilight_. You have just come from Seritum, yes?'  
The mans tone did not invite questions. Neither did the weapon he was pointing at Arams tiny ship. He looked up as the cockpit was bathed in shadow. A massive ship was ever so slowly travelling above him. The Hiigaran Defence forces insignia was painted bright white upon it, the decal bigger than Arams ship.  
'Y…yes, I just came from Seritum' He managed to stammer. Guns made him nervous. Battle cruiser sized guns terrified him.  
'How long ago did you leave?'  
A group of interceptors streaked by his ship; passing it so close he would have sworn he could hear the whine of their engines. They swept back around past his ship, obviously enjoying their freedom of movement.  
'Umm…three days ago…' Aram decided to see if he could find out what as going on, something must have happened in Seritum 'Why? What's happened'  
'I think…. we have to talk' The Admiral simply said.  
A new voice came in over the communications channel.  
'Greetings. You are cleared to approach on the marked vector. Do no deviate from your course. Do no exceed the speed we have transmitted you. Do not break formation with your interceptor escorts. Upon landing you will be scanned. Do not…'  
'Resist?' Aram cut in sarcastically.  
'Yes. Do not resist. Enjoy your stay on _Twilight_'  
Sighing, Aram sat back in his chair and let them guide his ship in. Two squads of interceptors and an older model assault frigate had taken up escort position. He looked at the condition of the frigate. Seritum had two of those frigates in its planetary defence forces. This ship looked like it was the garbage scow of the fleet. Seritum's ships formed the vanguard of her fleet. However he was quite sure the plasma bomb launchers where still in optimal condition.  
  
The Dreadnaught was the biggest thing he had ever seen. It took at least three minutes to move from the bow of the ship to the designated docking ledge. Aram had thought he could breathe a sigh of relief once he moved outside of the forward arc of the ship, that gargantuan nose cannon wouldn't be facing him anymore. But mere seconds after they had cleared its fire arc, his escorts had moved him downwards. As they descended past the Dreadnaughts keel, he looked to his right, and any chance of feeling slightly relieved vanished in a puff of ions. Aimed right at him was a weapon that dwarfed his ship, and was most likely bigger than the assault frigate trailing behind him. The docking ledge was located two thirds of the way along the Dreadnaughts length, a collection of yellow platforms on the underside of the warship. They looked terribly out of place against the white, almost bone like material that _Twilight_ was made of, as did the collection of turrets, which had been attached to the ships hull.  
[Communication incoming from the Assault Frigate _Diam-sul_]  
'This is were we leave you, _Shining Wish_ good luck…and for what it's worth…I'm sorry for what your about to find out'  
Aram was about to ask him what he meant when the Assault Frigate veered upwards, heading towards a carrier. The communication channel shut off. The two squads of interceptors accelerated away from him, whipping under the Dreadnaught and streaking off to resume their patrols.  
On one side of his view port, Hiigara twinkled enticingly. He had been so close. So close to setting foot on his people's homeworld. On the other side, _Twilight_ was all he could see. His ship shuddered slightly as it latched down onto the docking ledge. A tube extended from the Dreadnaught to his ship, it waved about blindly for a moment, before the magnetic beacons in his ships airlock caught the tubes attention, and they latched together.  
[Pressure matched. You can depart when your ready]  
'Thanks, _Shining_'   
He flipped switches, locking _Shining Wish_ against any people who would like to come aboard and prod through her systems.   
[Be careful]  
He stopped. He'd never heard of a ship speaking like that…Then again, he wasn't entirely sure his ship was Hiigaran in design. In fact, he was quite sure it wasn't.   
'I will' He whispered, not wanting to sound like a fool if anyone was listening in and didn't hear _Shinings words_.  
  
_Twilight_ was decidedly Spartan in it's furnishings, the room…no, cell, he had been taken to be scanned was a small metal cubicle with a single eye level one way window. The scan was not intrusive like he thought it would be, they merely passed a green line over him twice, and reported all clear. He was allowed to exit the cell, and fell into line with a group of Hiigaran marines. As the marines walked him through what seemed like kilometres of corridors, none of them even gave him a sideways glance. They always looked forward, jaws steeled and bolt rifles held across their chests. They stopped outside an elaborately decorated doorway, and, even with his limited knowledge of Hiigara, he knew the image on the door was the same carving found on the Guidestone.   
'The Admiral is waiting.' One of the marines said gruffly, still not looking at Aram.  
'Uh…thanks' Aram said sheepishly, ruffling his hair as he stepped through the door.  
The room was circular, with half the wall being a massive window. He must have been somewhere on the spine of the Dreadnaught, because the vessel seemed to stretch on forever from under the window. A man stood in front of the window, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. Aram stood silently for a moment, taking it all in, awestruck at being aboard a ship like this.   
'Come in, please, sit down' the man Aram assumed was the Admiral said in a deep voice as he turned. He was middle aged, with greying hair, cut short to his scalp. He had grey eyes – something quite common for Nabaal Kiithids to have since the homecoming – which had a deep sadness about them when they first saw Aram.  
'Uh…yes…sir' Aram stumbled forward to a lounge chair and sat down awkwardly, trying not to look relaxed. For the past year or so, Aram had suffered from depression, ever since his girlfriend threw him away because of his 'stupid dreams', literally and figuratively. He was always saying he would buy a ship and go to Hiigara, she would tell him that he was going to be stuck on their backwater mining world, living out the lives of every member of their families for the past century. But he was different! He wasn't a miner, he was a fighter pilot in the defence forces. Then he started having the dreams. The depression affected his confidence, and now, he was always sheepish around people, afraid of their judgements. The hyperspace jump to Hiigara was one of the most peaceful and relaxing times he could remember. There was no one but he and _Shining_.  
The Admiral came over and sat down opposite him, in a large comfy looking chair.  
'I'm sorry if you where given a hard time on your arrival, but we must be careful, you'll understand when I tell you what's happened' The Admiral looked shamed for a second, face turned to the ground. 'Aram…I'm sorry to say this…but Seritum, it's…' He paused; Aram felt his stomach bottom out like pulling a six g dive in his cloud scooter. 'I'm sorry, but the colony at Seritum…has been destroyed. You are the only person we know to have survived'  
Aram looked out the window. He snorted; the advantage of depression was that, you're always at the worst you can be. The only person he cared about who was still there was his mum, but she wasn't even on the planet when he left, she was aboard the survey rig, looking for new prospecting sites. Maybe she might have survived. He could feel the sorrow building up in him…if his mum was gone…then…he didn't know what he would do.  
'What…how?' He asked, his voice shaking.  
'We don't know, we where hoping maybe you could give help us. If you need some time, that's fine just say.' The Admiral smiled gently. The kind of smile Aram would have liked his father to have. The only facial expression his father ever showed him was a sneer.  
'No…' Aram steeled his jaw, fighting back the shakes as what happened really hit home. His life…was gone. 'Lets do this now…I…want to go back there'  
The admiral looked concerned and asked if Aram would like a drink or something eat. He declined, shaking his head zealously.  
'Was there anything strange happening before you left?'  
Aram thought hard for a moment. He told them about the interference on communications networks, which had just been put down to solar activity, about the weird signals which would originate from seemingly random places throughout the system, again attributed to the systems star behaving oddly. Then the trader, who sold him an obviously advanced ship for next to nothing. The trader had said he'd just come from Hiigara, and said if Aram was planning travelling, he should see it in midbloom, when the crystalisis trees opened their flowers to the sun and shine in nearly every colour imaginable.  
The admiral asked for a description of the trader. Aram shrugged and said he had just looked human, but he walked funny. And his ship? Aram looked thoughtful for a second, and then nodded. His ship was a black semi circle, a little bit bigger than a Yir'it ore barge.  
'Yir'it ore barge…?' The admiral paused for a second, then nodded. 'Ah, the predecessors of our current Bishop class transports'   
Aram shrugged. He wasn't really up to date on current Hiigaran Naval technology. Hence why this Dreadnaught was such amazement to him.  
The talked for another hour, while the admiral tried to strain as much data from Aram as possible, but by the end, he was just itching to go back to Seritum, and see if he could find anyone.  
'Can I go back now?' Aram asked hopefully.  
The admiral stood up, and walked towards the door.  
'This fleet is departing for Seritum before the day is out. You are welcome to join us'  
Aram nodded. The admiral called an aide, and asked him to take Aram to temporary quarters, and to get him acquainted with the ship.


	2. Chapter II Return

**Chapter II: Return**  
True to his word, mere hours after Arams assimilation into the Dreadnaughts inhabitants, the fleet had made the jump to hyperspace. Aram volunteered for combat duty, his time spent in the Seritum Defence force giving him this privilege. He wanted to see if he could get some revenge. Sure, he may not have liked Seritum, but it was his home. Someone, or something would pay.  
He sat alone in the mess hall, in the far corner. The soup muck that the Navy served up for pilots was…edible. Just. The other pilots laughed and sounded like they where having a generally fun time. The distinction between occupations was quite visible here, in the massive hall. The fighter pilots all sat off to one side of the hall, a jovial sounding bunch. From where Aram was sitting, he could see one pilot – he assumed him to be an interceptor or scout pilot – making slow, sloth like gestures at another group of pilots – bomber crew, he guessed. The bomber crews laughed and then started making crude capital ships out of food trays. They then proceeded to throw small, easily mashed vegetables against the side of it, and pointed at the interceptor pilots, laughing harder.  
Sitting distanced from the fighter pilots, was a more sombre group of individuals, they seemed to pair up into groups of three or four people, and would share jokes and tales with other groups. Corvette pilots perhaps.  
Crews from ships which where frigate sized or larger generally had their own mess halls aboard them. In the center of them all, a group that consisted of only burly muscle bound men and women joked, drank and had arm wrestling competitions. Aram smiled. Marines are the same in every system.  
With a loud crash, the doors to the mess hall slid open, and a whole new bunch of people piled into the hall. Cheers and greetings, nicknames and beckons san out across the mess hall as this new group filed towards the serving area. They got their meals, then went and sat down with their respective groups, and the jokes and laughter got even louder. Aram shook his head, smiling. Seritum Defence force personnel where never like this.   
He left what remained of his slop, and headed down to the hangar. His little ship had been transferred into the Dreadnaughts Hiigaran made hangar after it was determined safe from explosives. The Dreadnaught was a big ship, and he got lost a few times while looking for the hangar, but he eventually found it, and settled down in _Shining Wish_ for a quick nap.  
  
The dream again. He was alone, floating through a melange of colours, heading towards something vast and ancient, something incalculably intelligent. He knew, that even from this distance, whatever this thing was, it saw the galaxy, maybe even the whole universe. But there was someone with him, there always was, someone else floating towards this…this thing. However, like all the times before, when he tried to see this other person, they where always out of his perception. So he continued on his spiral to the heart of the galaxy, alone.  
  
An alarm shocked him out of his dream, and he groggily opened his eyes to the familiar site of the Firebrand, the nebula that reached its murky fingers through the Seritum system.  
The dock master was urgently trying to contact him. He opened the channel and began the pre-flight warm up. To his surprise, _Shining's_ computer had already run the diagnostics and she was ready to fly.  
"Damnit boy! You been sleeping or something?" The dockmaster said, but there wasn't much anger in his voice. Aram assumed that word had gotten round that he was the only survivor from Seritum "It'd be great if you could launch, your holding up a row of Corvette's"  
Aram looked at the rear view screen and grimaced. Sure enough, there behind him where six Corvettes.  
"Uh…Sorry!" Aram said, as he was nosing out of the hangar. He cleared the magnetic field on the hangar, and was back in his home space. He listened to the comm. Chatter from the various strike craft squadrons already launched and screening the various capital ships of the fleet. One communication in particular caught his attention.  
  
"This is Scout group Gamma-Three, we are currently holding orbit in the above the northern pole of the main planet. The planet is dead, there are major cracks in the outer crust, it looks like they tried to split the planet in half, not a pretty sight. There are ships of unknown configuration riding the terminator, grouped at the equator. Numbers are a bit hazy at this distance, but we assume there to be perhaps eleven or twelve frigates, and two ships which look capital size, one is very large. Unsure on the number of strike craft"  
Admiral Ses-Nabaal stood in the middle of _Twilights_ bridge, lights blinking softly in the low lights of battle alert. The murmur of voices in the background a pleasing mask to the thrum of the ships systems.  
"Understood, Gamma-Three, maintain position, do not put yourself in danger. We shall be on station shortly" The fighter liaisons officer replied to the scout group.  
He was about to request the status of the next group of scouts that had been deployed when Gamma two and six both called in with almost exactly the same message.   
Unknown vessels emerging from hyperspace briefly. They realigned their courses and jumped again, towards the fleet.  
Seconds later Gamma-Three reported again.  
"Unknown ships have jumped! Repeat unknown ships have jumped! Course indicates they are on an interception vector with the body of the fleet. Prepare for hostiles, fleet!"  
On the tactical map that took up most of the right hand sidewall of the bridge, purple circles begin to converge on the Hiigaran fleet. The scout group's icons began to wink out, the sensor coverage balloon shrunk back in towards the fleet. The captain of the _Twilight_, Sheran S'jet shifted in his seat.  
'Quantum Wavefront detected! Gateways are appearing! Forty-seven hundred meters from the picket line. Exodus detected! Emerging vessels are of unknown configuration!" On the tactical map, red icons began to appear in a semi sphere ahead of the Hiigaran ships. Acting quickly, Ses-Nabaal sprang into action.  
"Battle cruisers _Second Death_ and _Shevat_, join us at point. Carrier _Kharem-Siluk_, reduce speed, remain at least five clicks from the nearest enemy vessel, launch bomber squadrons." He looked up at the tactical map again for a second. The amount of red blips was growing by the second, but there was only one place left which had an active hyperspace opening left, which was a good thing. "Frigate groups Grey and Fox, leashes off, you are clear to engage. Try to open the enemies capital ships for bomber attacks." He tapped something into a console, and a window opened on the tactical map, displaying the enemy ship designs. Sophisticated AI programs ran comparisons and examinations of them, trying to determine function and capabilities.  
"All fighters engage targets of oppurtunity. Fleet attack pattern _Lance_"  
Ses-Nabaal walked to the front of the bridge, already in the distance, small flashes and streaks of light where beginning to show as fighters and corvettes began to battle with the enemies equivalents.   
"Helm, plot in an intercept course with that ship" he tapped his finger on a large ship visible even from the distance they where apart. A box appeared around it, and it magnified the view. It looked like a metal squid; it had a sleek smooth forward section, which curved into a lethal looking beak. Stretching out behind it, it had streamer like tails that undulated slowly.   
"Captain, unlock the Phased Cannon Array please. Charge its torsion generators"  
The captain tapped away at the console on the side of his seat. When the console beeped loudly, he looked up at the Admiral, and nodded.  
Yawing slightly to port, _Twilight_ began to accelerate its massive bulk towards the mass of the enemies forces. With any luck they could disable the large enemy ship with a good shot from the Phased Cannon. A slight orange glow had begun to accumulate around two large domes set at the rear of the flagship.   
"Helm. Shortjump. Two thousand meters"  
Reality on the bridge of _Twilight_ smeared slightly, and Ses-Nabaal felt nausea try to claim him as the ship momentarily disappeared from reality, only to reappear mere seconds later. The battle cruisers _Shevat_ and _Second Death_ flashed into existence beside them , their ion turrets coming to bear on nearby enemy capital ships.  
"Admiral, the Phased Cannon Array will be ready to fire in forty five seconds" The captain announced as he got up and moved to stand with the admiral at the front of the bridge.  
The bridge shook slightly as a destroyer sized enemy vessel fired upon _Twilight_.  
Ses-Nabaal smiled.  
"Return fire"


	3. Chapter III Broken Bird, Away it Flies

**Chapter III: Broken bird, away it flies**  
He felt at ease now, doing the thing that had set him apart from the others in his family. _Shining Wish_ handled wonderfully, the sleek little craft as fast as a bomber, but packing the firepower and armour of an assault frigate.  
He flinched slightly as the ship tumbled victoriously through the expanding cloud of shrapnel and gas that had been his target.  
The alien ships weren't tough, but they where fast, and there was a whole heap of them, they seemed to be emerging from what Aram assumed was their carrier in a steady stream. The carrier resembled a hive, under it's wings hung great bulbous honeycombed sections of hull, and from hexagonal orifices on these sections the enemy strike craft launched.  
An enemy fighter craft swooped in behind him, firing super heated fragments of a fleshy matter. Aram had seen what those projectiles did to unshielded hulls. The heat and speed smashed its way into the body of the target vessel, and then the sac would burst apart inside, causing a chemical reaction that, if it didn't destroy the craft instantly, would open great sections of hull to space.  
He was sure _Shining_ would have more than a few scorch marks on her hull where the shots had been deflected.  
He nudged the yoke to the left, sending Shining into a controlled roll, then veered straight down towards the scarlet wall that was the destroyer _Implacable_. The alien fighter followed him, and then proceeded to match his every move as Aram weaved around the destroyer's large mass driver turrets.  
_Damn! This guys good_   
He streaked around the keel of the _Implacable_, and then headed outwards, hoping to be able spin 180 degrees vertically and destroy his pursuer as he emerged from the shadow of the destroyer. As he was preparing to spin about, another fighter dove in on him from above. He had to abandon his spin and juke to avoid this new threats fire. He rolled upwards, looking for something to help him out. The nearest vessel with point defence systems was the battle cruiser _Shevat_, it was currently engaged with a large enemy vessel, and both ships escort fighters fought furiously between the two warships.  
Aram gunned the engine, and kicked his ship into a snap roll that ended up with him pointing at _Shevat_. Beyond the super capital ship, he could see _Twilight_; the large turret on its underside unleashed its wrath on a nearby destroyer-sized vessel. The blue streaks of energy slammed into the side of the alien capital, geysers of sapphire fire reaching outwards, mingling with venting liquid – cryogenic fluids he supposed – and shattered hull plates. Six identical explosions ran along the length of the ship, as Twilights turret cannon continued to pound the smaller vessel. The second barrage was aimed along the spine of the ship; it must have hit something important, because as the third impact took place, explosions began to flare up all over the enemy ship. The fireballs quickly ran along the length of the ship. Within seconds, it was a hulk drifting silently away from _Twilight_, small puffs of fire the only sign of movement on it.  
Two more alien fighters had joined the chase behind him, making it increasingly difficult to avoid all their shots. _Shining_ shook occasionally as the energised hull plating deflected a bio charge. _Shevat_ grew larger in his view port, until all he could see was the deep red of her hull. Light filters cut in momentarily as she fired her underside Ion cannon turret, which was little more than three hundred meters away. The crystal beam gouged a deep hole in the enemy vessel, and an appendage snapped off and spun away into the void. A smaller purple beam lanced past him, and he saw in his rear view screen one of the tailing fighters explode. The other three scattered, realising the danger they where in being in the shadow of the Hiigaran battle cruiser. Two of _Shevats_ escort interceptors dived in over the edge of the hull, and sprayed the nearest alien fighter with mass driver slugs. It shook under the hail of hypervelocity rounds, then blew apart in a spray of gas and fragments of hull material. The lead interceptor streaked through the plume triumphantly.  
"Looked like you could use a hand, _Shining_" The voice was distorted by the amount of EM that was radiating from the battle cruisers Ion turret, but he could hear the humour in her voice.   
"Thanks…ah…" he checked the tactical read out of local space, looking for the designation of the strike craft nearest him. "Err…Delta-four…?"  
He levelled in behind the third alien ship, holding for a second as the reticule went bright green. His gloved finger tightened on the trigger, and four emerald beams speared the target, slicing outwards from the convergence point. The craft continued to fly on unabated for a second, before falling apart into four pieces, which each detonated at the same time.  
He heard a whistle as Delta-Fours wingman peppered the last fighter with slugs. It twitched under the bombardment, and then accelerated out from under the Hiigaran super capital, trailing frozen globules of liquid. Obviously the pilot thought he was safe, as he stopped doing any serious evasive manoeuvres.  
His battered craft disappeared in a puff of gas and a whirlwind of razor sharp shrapnel fragments. A flash inside the dark smear indicated the end of the fighter. The flak frigate that had adhered the killing blow appeared over the artificial horizon of the battle cruiser, turrets patrolling for more targets.   
"That's some neat firepower your packing there, _Shining_" The two interceptors swung in to take his wing as they headed to get out from under _Shevat_. The battle cruiser hadn't even seemed to notice the skirmish that took place beneath it "Which ship you assigned too?"   
"_Twilight_, I'd say, that's the ship I launched from" Aram replied, looking around for the Hiigaran fleets flagship.  
"Better get back to her then, she's taking the brunt of the enemy strike craft assaults. I think they know she's manoeuvring to fire her PCA"  
"PCA?"  
_Shevat_ ceased being the sky for him, and he was afforded a view of the battle taking place at the edge of Seritum III's orbit. Pulses of light indicated the demise of fighters, corvettes and frigates. Beams shone glaringly in the darkness, sweeping across areas of space creating blossoms of fire as ships caught in the path of ion beams ruptured. Off to port, he saw a Hiigaran destroyer take a direct hit amidships from one of their capital ships bio spear weapons. At first nothing seemed to happen, then the spear blasted out the opposite side, tendrils of some black substance linking it further into the ship. Whole decks tore open , and he saw the internal workings of her middle rail cannon flung out into space. Cracks appeared all over the ceramic armour as the tendrils where ripped free of the deeper innards of the destroyer. It drifted away, inertly. The spear reached the end of its tether, it's momentum exhausted. Aram watched in disgusted fascination as more tendrils shot out from the aft of the spear and latched onto the destroyer. It reeled it in like a creg-fesh pulling in its catch.  
"Ugh." He heard Delta-Four groan. "Yeah, _Twilight_'s PCA, the big cannon in it's nose. Very powerful."  
Aram aimed _Shinings_ nose at the Dreadnaught.  
"Oh, I see. Thanks for the help" He said as he accelerated towards the flagship.  
"Anytime, SD1"  
"SD1?" Aram asked confused as he sped towards Twilight.  
"Yeah…" Delta-Fours transmission dissolved into static for a moment, the cause was instantly evident in the blue beam carving away at the nearby enemy capital ship. "Your designation is SD1, for Seritum Defence One"  
He smiled. That was fitting, he liked that. The last survivor of Seritum was also its final defender. Squeezing as much out of his ship as he could, he flew towards the spectacle that was the battle around _Twilight_.  
  
"Situation update, please Captain Sheran"  
Kiron Ses-Nabaal watched in amusement as the alien fighters tried to damage _Twilight_. Their bio charges lasted for three seconds after impact. _Twilight_ had seven meters of armour at most places. The larger ships posed something more a threat, their biocannons firing charges heavy enough to penetrate the Dreadnaughts armour, but so far damage from them was minimal (minimal relative to the size of _Twilight_, that is)  
The biggest single threat to the Hiigaran flagship had come from a lone vessel, which looked like an upsized version of their biospears. A swordship, he'd heard someone on the bridge mutter as it bore down on them. The primary energy cannon had to be diverted to destroy it. Worryingly enough though, the large capital ship which _Twilight_ had targeted for the PCA had a dozen of the vessels berthed at it's stern. Ses-Nabaal seriously hoped they weren't intended as missile ships.  
"Minor venting on starboard decks E and F. Bulkheads have collapsed at the point where we were hit by that torpedo weapon. A suicide fighter also interrupted the PCAs stability, we had to shut down the system. It's restarted and recharging now, the weapon will be ready to fire in a little under a minute." Sheran looked at the tactical map " Our escort destroyers _Crimson Regret_ and _Vindictive_ are holding steady, they are reporting minor hull breaches, but nothing serious. _Vindictive_'s port torpedo tube jammed, they are clearing at as we speak."  
A Hiigaran frigate flared into a ball of superheated gas off _Twilight_'s portside. The admiral looked down at the sensors operator.  
"The frigate _Beezling_, two smaller biospears lodged in the ship, leaving the majority of it undamaged. Last report said they were still good to fight. Logs show they self destructed"  
Ses-Nabaal sighed. Such a pointless waste of life.  
"How are _Shevat_ and _Second Death_ handling this?"  
The tactical map split into two windows, one centred on _Shevat_ off _Twilight_s port side, and the other battle cruiser to the right.  
"_Shevat_ reports she is achieving local space superiority. Capital kills are at four destroyer sized vessels, and a single heavy destroyer sized vessel." The tactical officer smiled. "Captain Krosen asks if you'll leave him any of their command vessel to shoot up"   
Ses-Nabaal smiled.  
"_Second Death_ is encountering heavier resistance. She's lost the destroyer _Hakar-ut_, and her other escort destroyer is venting heavily"  
The admiral looked up at the tactical map. Sure enough, the huge Hiigaran ship was being swarmed by waves of smaller alien craft, her ion cannons tracking rate to slow to be used properly, her captain had resorted to sweeping the deathly beam across congested areas. He had no worries about hitting friendly escorts, as they where all either heavily damaged and docked inside _Second Death_, or all destroyed.  
Strangely enough, the battle cruisers point defence pulsars where firing on her remaining escort, _Iridium_.  
"Contact _Second Death_, please"  
Static filled the main screen for a moment, before clearing into the image of a pained looking man. Ses-Nabaal and the man looked at each other, both had startling grey eyes.  
"Kiithid Maweer. Do you require assistance?"  
Pride shone bright in the mans eyes, his face looking gaunt and hollow in the blood red emergency lights on the battle cruisers bridge. An explosion sent sparks flying on the bridge behind him, and two crewmembers passed the screen momentarily, carrying a wounded friend between them. The explosion seemed to destroy the pride. The man sighed in defeat.  
"Some anti fighter weaponry would be appreciated. I am wielding a _barak-sur_ blade and trying to peel a mershe fruit with it…it is…cumbersome, to say the least"  
The admiral nodded at the captain of _Twilight_, who designated a group of flak frigates and gunships to assist the outnumbered battle cruiser.  
Ses-Nabaal cleared his throat.  
"Maweer, why are you firing on _Iridium_?"  
The captain of _Second Death_ looked at something off screen momentarily.  
"Something is attached to their hull. The captain says it has segregated a number of decks, and he has lost contact with multiple crews. He is slowly losing control of his ship. He can no longer fire number three mass driver, and number Four is becoming erratic"  
Again, Ses-Nabaal said something quietly to the Dreadnaughts captain.  
"I am dispatching marine frigates to assist. Do what you can to halt the spread of the…thing. They will be with you momentarily. Your anti fighter cover is inbound, as well"  
_Second Death_'s captain bowed his head.  
"Thank you, Admiral" He said the last word with a slight sneer, and closed the communication channel.  
Captain Sheran glanced sideways at the admiral, but Ses-Nabaal merely shook his head and closed his eyes momentarily.  
"Another time" He said quietly.  
Kiron Ses-Nabaal sighed inwardly to himself. Such anger in his cousin, such jealousy. He should be glad to have been given command of something as prestigious and powerful as _Second Death_, not spiteful because he was not in charge of the fleet. _It always was a competition between he and I_, Ses-Nabaal thought, _but he could never take losing_.  
Captain Sheran interrupted the admiral's thoughts by clearing his throat.  
"We are clear to fire the Phased Cannon Array"  
Ses-Nabaal looked out the main view port, at the alien monster ahead of him. It's shoals of attendant vessels floated beside it, firing at the Hiigaran ships.  
The Nabaal admiral walked closer to the viewer.  
"Fire at will captain"  
  
"Sir, we have another incursion"  
Captain Maweer of the battle cruiser _Second Death_ sighed. Things where not going well for him. The reinforcements his cousin sent had alleviated the enemy strike craft problem, but now he was facing a bigger problem.  
Losing his ship all together.  
"How are the marines holding?"  
"They're not responding, I believe we've lost the first twenty-six sections to sequestration...twenty seven now"  
He tapped his temple. Things certainly where not going well.  
"Marine squad 3 reports…" The tactical officer threw the earpiece down with a grimace as deafening static filled the airways. Scratching sounds drifted up through the steel decked floor.   
Communications signals dropped off the tactical board, the array disappearing from the ships list of monitored systems.   
Sighing, Maweer stood.  
"Abandon ship…" He said slowly, sadly. The crew filed past, heads down, none of them making eye contact with him.   
When they where all gone he sat down in his command chair.  
He had only ever wanted to be like his cousin, to be something great. This ship was his chance at that, and now it was being taken away from him. The tactical readout showed that eighty percent of the ship was lost to him. Red fingers crept towards the sanctuary that was the bridge. He knew he always came across wrong to Ses-Nabaal, always sounded harsh.  
He pushed a code into the keypad on his chair.  
He didn't mean to sound like that to him…it was just…  
A panel slid back revealing a softly pulsing red button.  
It was so hard being his cousin…  
He pushed the button there. Bright blue lights lit up, numbers flicking slowly through a sixty second countdown.  
Every time he could almost consider he and his cousin equals, friend's maybe, Kiron would do something to make him better.  
He squeezed his eyes shut, and waited.  
  
Aram looked on wide-eyed at the amount of firepower being thrown about space in the area of the Hiigaran flagship. Since he arrived on the scene, two alien fighters had succumbed to his quad beam weapons, now he was tailing another meters above the trench that ran the length of _Twilight_.  
[Priority One message for all vessels in the vicinity of _Twilight_]  
"This is _Twilight_, all strike craft pull clear, we are firing the Phased Cannon Array. Repeat, all strike craft, get clear" A timer began to count down on his HUD, twenty seconds till firing.  
An orange glow began to build up underneath Arams ship, small particles racing back and forth along the crevice in the Dreadnaughts hull. He began to feel weird; his stomach felt like it was bottoming out.  
[Gravitic anomaly detected]  
The communications channel burst into life.  
"SD1! Which part of get clear didn't you understand? Move!" A females voice barked in his ear. "Now!"  
He pulled up as sharply as he could, and watched on the local scanner as all the other strike craft did as well, like water from a fountain reaching it's apex.  
Ten seconds.  
He nosed his ship back towards the Hiigarans flagship. The orange glow was increasing around the two domes at the aft of the huge ship. The particles became streaks running along indentations in the trench.  
Five seconds.  
The stream of particles became a solid fill of orange and flowed towards the Dreadnaughts nose.   
Two seconds.  
Aram thought the orange was going to overflow past the bow of the ship. Things darted away from the enemy vessel, night black streaks jetting outwards.  
Zero.  
_Twilight_ fired. A lance of blinding yellow light speared out from Dreadnaughts Cannon Array. It began to cut its way upwards through the vessels hull, steam gurgled out and armour plates melted away as the massive stream of energy plunged deeper into the target. Then she opened fire with her primary energy turret and ion arrays, ripping great holes across the unscarred sections of the hull.  
  
Aboard the Hiigaran destroyer _Ruyt'clee_, the crew stood watching as Twilight spat her fury at the alien's largest vessel. Then the ship shook. Damage report, the captain yelled. Unknown, no response from impact area.  
Then the most horrible screeching noise reverberated through the ship. The crew froze. That was the sound of bulkheads straining against unstoppable pressure. It was the death howl of large ships. The alarms started, breaches on multiple decks, multiple breaches in progress. The captain was about to cry abandon ship when a black tendril smashed through the offset bridges forward view port. The words where stolen from his lungs as he yelled soundlessly at his ships killer.  
  
"Plus 14…"  
The sound of the Phased Cannon Array was audible on the bridge.  
"Plus 15…"  
The beam was visibly beginning to waver now, as it reached its operating capacity.  
"Plus 16…Phased Cannon Array shutting down" The weapons officer began to route power back to the cannon arrays torsion generators, preparing it for another firing. The alien ship they had fired at drifted ahead of them. Ses-Nabaal found that if he squinted, he could honestly see the ship twitching.  
"Target has stopped moving, it's…" the tactical officer was interrupted by fleet logistics, the man sitting up straight and yelling over the bridge.  
"Admiral! We've lost _Second Death_! She's breaking up, multiple ruptures around her midships! No pods have jettisoned…"  
Ses-Nabaal quickly spun to face the tactical map.  
"What happened?"  
The bridge tactical officer looked to her console.   
"Unknown cause, sir, we're getting telemetry feeds now…Damnit! We just lost contact with the fleet carrier"  
The main screen switched to showing _Second Death_, the once great ship now listed to starboard. Where her keel Ion cannon turret used to rest, there was a great hole, like someone had punched their way out of the battle cruiser.  
Then a great white light grew out of the maimed warship, and it disappeared in a ball bright enough to rival the birth of a star. Over a hundred tiny red blips on the tactical map winked out as the conflgration consumed them, a nearby alien frigate succumbing to the blast aswell, it's black hull peeling away like dead skin. It shook violently as the out reaches of the explosion reached it, then was devoured also.  
"Sensors confirmed! Carrier _Kharem-Siluk_ has broken in 2 astern of her corvette facility"  
Ses-Nabaal looked at the tactical map in disbelief. All across the board, green dots where disappearing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a streak of black coming round to bear on _Shevat_.  
"Put me through to _Shevat_! Quickly!" He almost yelled. The worried, yet still determined face of _Shevat_s captain came onscreen. "Nerithol, jump!"  
The battle cruisers captain appeared confused.  
"And leave you here all by yourself?" He demanded. "No, we won't abandon you too these things"  
'Captain…Nerithol, that's an order. Get clear. Please, we'll meet you back at the Homeworld. You must warn them."  
The captain looked about ready to argue, then nodded sadly.  
"Yes…sir. Thank you. _Shevat_, out"  
Ses-Nabaal turned to _Twilight_ tactical officer. He asked how many functioning capital ships where left. She shook her head slowly.  
"Only _Crimson Regret_, _Vindictive_ and ourselves"  
Someone announced across the bridge that _Shevat_ had just jumped away.  
"Recall our fighters, make preparations to go home"  
He sighed and returned to his seat.  
  
Aram looked about in stunned disbelief at the amount of wreckage floating aimlessly about. Their fleet had been decimated in a matter of minutes. _Twilight_ was sounding a call for emergency landing in her hangars.   
Already fairly close the Dreadnaught; Aram was quickly in the queue to dock. This was more than he wanted when he came looking for vengeance. The Taidanii or some Vagyr remnants he could have dealt with…but this. This unknown enemy that destroyed a Hiigaran battle group in no time. Ahead of him, three badly damaged interceptors limped into the hangar. Aram squinted to make out the designations on them.  
"Delta-Four? Is that you?" he asked.  
"Yeah…oh, SD1" she sounded incredibly tired and disheartened. "We screwed up"  
_Yeah…_  
"What happened?"  
"I really have no idea" she sighed "I'll talk to you once we're set down"  
"Sure…"  
He cut the comm. Link.  
[_Twilight_ is under attack]  
  
"Penetration damage on port wing!"  
"Keel deck N reports loss of atmosphere!"  
"Starboard Ion cannon Array offline"  
"Power relays dropping, backup power systems offline"  
The damage reports where coming in too fast now, the violent alien craft had all turned their attention to _Twilight_ once _Shevat_ had jumped. One was already lodged in the Dreadnaughts port bow.  
The mighty vessel could not withstand a sustained attack from these things.  
"Enemy target dead ahead! It's increasing speed"  
Out through the view port, the starts disappeared for fleeting seconds as the night black construct sped towards the Hiigaran flagship.  
"It's going to ram us!"  
Ses-Nabaal could only do one thing.  
"Helm! Emergency jump procedure! Do it!"  
The helmsman smashed open a glass case at the top of his console, and twisted a large screw shaped object inside of it. It hissed, and he pushed it downwards.  
Deep within _Twilight_, the hyperspace core was fed all the power the immense warship could give it. Lights dimmed across all decks as the core greedily lapped up everything it was presented. Four seconds later, it transferred all that energy into creating a gateway, a gateway leading to a very long tunnel.  
_Twilight_ slipped through the gateway, but not before the last alien ship straightened out and dug deep into the Dreadnaughts bow.  
The impact shook the ship hard, and then the inertia less environment of hyperspace claimed them for the second time that day.  
Ses-Nabaal clambered up from his knees, where he was thrown when the alien bio spear burrowed into his ship.  
The tactical readout had switched to a damage report. Things didn't look good. The hyper core was damaged. One of the Dreadnaughts wings was clear missing, and at least sixteen decks had unsealed leaks. The PCA was offline, one of it's torsion generators had overloaded in the emergency jump. A red triangle flashed at the main entrance to the forward hangars.   
Shipboard combat.  
He flicked the comm Button and spoke to the whole of the ships crew.  
"All combat personnel to the bow, repeat to the bow"  
He looked at the black thing stuck in his ship. He hated it. It was the thing which ruined his fleet, which killed his cousin. He pulled out his service pistol, and flicked the safety off. He looked about his bridge, the officers where all doing likewise, pistols drawn, grim faced. Soot and blood where common features of their faces.  
_Twilight_ was broken, but nowhere near defeated.  
He spoke into the comm System again.  
"Prepare to engage boarders"


	4. Interlude I

Interlude: I  
_We hear.  
It beckons us too consciousness…we comply.  
Eyes open…for the first time…yet we have seen before.  
Memories flood into us…one of the hollow, dead star beasts.  
It should have been taken quickly; we should not have been woken up.  
But it was too large. There are two of you here. And still it did not fall.  
Thoughts…but… not our own.  
In the belly of the beast. There are other creatures, you must hunt them down.  
They must be forced to take us back where we can hear the starsong.   
We cannot hear it here.  
Limbs twitch as warm amniotic fluid engulfs us, gills pumping rapidly.  
Excitement grows…Life! We have been given it!  
Muscles flex as we sit up, arms pushing against the membrane that separates us from existence. It resists.  
One of us discovers the device in primary arms wrist. A bright blue light hurts our newly opened eyes. But the pain is good. It is real. We all the arm artefacts, the deep noise of their use filling us with anticipation. Another mind mingles with us. The all-around, it helps us, guides us.  
Go, it says; its thoughts are filled with encouragement, you are yours now.  
Awareness floods into our minds. No longer are we held back by confines we could not see. We sense that we are not one…but we…I…am myself. Yet I still feel my podkin. They are confused as well.  
I quiet them with a thought.  
Come.   
We are ourselves, but we are still one.   
This is good._


	5. Chapter IV Jumping at Shadows

**Chapter IV: Jumping at shadows**  
"Hiigaran Naval Vessel, are you in need of assistance?"  
Taidanii Trader Captain Elmetri So'isk looked at the mighty ship ahead of his freighter convoy. This was very peculiar, a Hiigaran ship of the line, Deus class battle cruiser by the looks of things, sitting in the empty space between planets, obviously damaged.  
"Repeat, Hiigaran Naval Vessel, are you in need of assistance?"  
His sensors officer came over to the Elmetri as the long-range sensor scan completed.  
Definitely Deus class battle cruiser, IFF identifies it as _Shevat_. There's extensive damage around her dorsal ion turret. It could have affected her drive system and power core. A reading about local space caught his eye.  
"This is a lot of quantum resonance for just a single battle cruiser," the Captain said suspiciously, tapping a finger on an obscure number. "Lock in an approach vector, maintaining current speed"  
Captain Elmetri So'isk had served in the Taidanii navy for a decade and something here definitely didn't feel right. A mans face appeared on his console.   
"What are we going to do?" The captain of the second freighter asked, no concern or worry present in his voice. Surprising considering there was a possibly hostile super capital ship four hundred kilometres away.  
"I'm not sure Jeren…something's wrong. Have you picked up anything strange?"  
The other man consulted someone off screen momentarily, and then turned back to his communications device.  
"There've been some tight band beam transmissions from the battle cruiser, but we couldn't work out their destination"  
"Really? We haven't been looking…" He stopped abruptly. _Damn_!  
He heard a groan from across the bridge.  
"Elm! We're being targeted" He looked at his first officer – his wife, incidentally – and shook his head. Jeren said the same thing; he's being targeted as well. Elmetri looked at his friend, worry creasing his brow.  
"We've been had"  
  
"_Implacable_, this is S-Alpha Two, the Taidanii ships are friendlies. They want to know if there's anything they can do to assist"  
The interceptor pilot sounded tired and disheartened. Like every person still alive, he guessed.  
"S-Alpha Two, this is Nevin, ask them for their cargo manifest, we'll see if they've got anything which we can use to patch up _Shevat_"  
The battered old assault frigate the Tai's had with them had not even attempted to resist when _Implacable_ had slipped out of the dust clouds. It simply stood down.  
His destroyer had seen better days.  
Like two days ago… he thought sadly to himself.  
The forward mass driver turret was missing, and one of the reaction mass tanks had ruptured as they where escaping from the battle. Acceleration, manoeuvring and firepower were decreased. He sighed. What more could I ask for?  
_Shevat_ had taken a direct hit as they attempted to jump to hyperspace. Nevin felt it was his fault, as the biospear that caused the damage was heading for him, but the explosion of _Shevat's_ other escort destroyer had thrown _Implacable_ underneath the battle cruiser, the biospear hit _Shevat_ about ten meters astern of her dorsal ion turret.  
They where forced to make an emergency exit from hyperspace little more than fifteen light years from the battle zone.   
Now his destroyer sat idle beside the three freighters and assault frigate. _Shevat's_ eight remaining interceptors hung near the battle cruisers hangar, understandably wary about entering combat. Moving to a range from which the freighters small loading drones could work, they offered the Hiigarans what they could.  
  
_Shevat's_ bridge was a mess, cables hung lose from the walls, plasglass lay in minefields on the floor, daring the barefooted to traverse them. It was sheer luck the Taidanii had stumbled across them, the helpful traders offering the Hiigarans parts to repair their damaged hyperdrive module, and patch the breach in her upper hull. Still, the traders could only help so much, the parts they donated would only last a certain time.   
Nerithol Krosen kicked a discarded cafbev pouch, it twirled upwards slowly, small globules of undrunk liquid slipping out, shimmering and wavering like tear filled eyes. Like the interceptor pilot he had come across on his way to the engineering decks. She was sitting against the wall, curled up into a little ball. Her eyes had looked like that, on the verge of tears. Only one of her squad mates was still alive, she had whispered. And still she didn't feel safe, back aboard _Shevat_; she had looked away then, ashamed. _Second Death_ died, she blurted out, and we could be next. I used to feel invincible aboard this ship.  
There was nothing he could do to reassure her, he thought grimly as he looked about his ruined bridge. A monitor spluttered to life, the face of Nevin Soban filling the screen. A crack ran down the center, distorting his rugged face.  
"Sir. The Tai's say the shipyard at Forec could give us a better repair, and it's only three light years away. We could make it"  
Nerithol thought about it, rubbing two fingers on the bridge of his nose.  
"We aren't sure if we where followed though, Nevin. I don't want to bring those things down on an entire planet"  
The screen opened a new communication window, and the face of the lead Taidanii trader appeared.  
"Permission to speak, captain?" The trader asked  
"Of course, be my guest" Nerithol said as he sat down and looped his feet under a grab hoop on the ground.  
"When we left Forec, about thirty three hours ago, there was a Republican task force in dock for routine stuff, like maintenance, shore leave and what have you" a small icon began to blink on Nerithols screen. The captain was transferring an image. "If you would look at this image sir, I know the resolution isn't the best, but it's sufficient"  
_Shevat's_ captain tapped the icon, and the image sprung up on the main screen.  
"I think what you see there should make you feel safe about going to Forec"  
The captain enhanced the image. With no one on the bridge but himself, he found that he was remembering skills he hadn't used since he was a frigate captain. Two ships stuck out like sore thumbs.  
"Qwaar-Jets…"   
The Taidanii trader nodded.  
"It's my opinion we take the risk, sir" The destroyers captain put in. "The Qwaar-Jets will definitely give anyone following us a hard time, and even down an ion turret, you still have more firepower than a Qwaar. That's a big decision for anyone coming after us to take."  
Nerithol thought hard. The twin Taidanii heavy cruisers would be able to put up a good fight.  
That's assuming we've been followed…maybe I'm just being paranoid  
He shook his head. What was he thinking! Leaving _Shevat_ in this state was endangering his crew. Forec it was.  
"Alright then, we'll make the jump" He looked to the Trader "Are you going to come with us?"  
The trader nodded. "Yes, we need to resupply. I think our customer would be unappreciative if we arrived missing some of his cargo"  
Nerithol smiled. All traders are the same.  
"I'll contact the Hiigaran consul on Forec. See if we can't get you reimbursed and perhaps a little on the side"  
Elmetri tried to conceal his smile.  
"Ah…you don't have to do that, Captain"  
"Nonsense, it's the least I could do"  
The destroyer's captain shook his head, lips twitching in amusement.  
"Well…if you insist, sir" He let the smile bubble through to the top. "_Vel'delfar_ out"  
The traders screen disappeared, allowing Nevins face to fill the monitor again.  
"I hope your right about this, my friend" Nerithol looked about his wreckage strewn bridge, the small globules of cafbev had long since been siphoned away by atmospheric restoration units.  
"Yeah…me too"  
  
Aligning themselves on Forecs star, the trio of Taidanii traders and the two Hiigaran Naval vessels drifted slightly as they shut down their fusion drives.  
In order to reduce strain on _Shevat's_ weakened hyperdrive, the three Taidanii traders offered to include the destroyer inside their jump envelope.  
The first ship to make the jump was the Taidanii assault frigate, the purple window eating it up quickly. Then the three traders and _Implacable_ jumped in unison, the destroyer's gate taking slightly longer to shrink to nothing.  
_Shevat_ opened her gateway. There where slight instabilities in the wavefront, but everything seemed to be going acceptably. The crew held their breath as they heard the familiar noise of the hyperspace rent pass them by. The loudspeakers crackled to life.  
"Attention all personnel, we have successfully entered hyperspace"  
Breaths were released happily; engineering crew clapped each other on the back and cheered. The crews of the other ships in the convoy all smiled as it was announced the battle cruisers resonance could be felt behind them.  
Captain Nerithol looked content, assured now he had made the right decision.  
_Was this what it was like aboard the Mothership, jumping into uncertainty for the first time? The giddy tension as the hyperdrive ran up to full power, the short burst of terror as the wavefront consumed us? The ship wide elation as the featureless purple of hyperspace looked upon us?_  
Judging by the looks on the bridge crews faces, he thought this must have been what it was like.  
  
_Something stirred in the dust cloud. A cold mind regarded them hungrily as the purple window swallowed _Shevat_. Massive limbs flexed out as it moved, seeking the star they headed for.  
The thing reached its mind out, grasping hold of the particular harmony of the star.   
_Vez'kim'jez-sul_, the star whispered to it in its melodic ethereal voice.  
The…creature… locked a mental claw around a wavering note. It willed itself there, it could feel the tunnel forming, shrinking space and time. Cells deep inside it's sleek body exerted themselves against the wall of reality, ripping the barrier away. The warmth of the star spilled through the now open tunnel. Dark intent filling it's mind, it flung itself into the tear in space, the tunnel a strange hybrid of hyperspace and real space.  
The starsong grew louder as it travelled; soon the sound saturated the alien thoughts, rejuvenating it, its strength increasing as it approached the sun._  
  
A purple ripple pinged on the tactical map. Normally, hyperspace jumps did not attract undue attention. There would be the standard array of quantum and long range scanners focused on it, and three defence platforms per gateway would be put on alert, but generally they where handled by Forec shipyards AI. This particular exodus however, caught the eye of the sensors master aboard the Taidan Republic carrier _Bre'sha_.  
Three hundred and fifty kilometres out from the standard jump distance meant one of three things. It was either a poorly trained spy, an invasion force or a vessel in trouble, which had no control over its exodus point. Within seven seconds, another eight defence platforms had lined their ion beams upon the opening gateway, and opened covers on missile launch tubes.  
The ship appeared. IFF; Hiigaran Navy Vessel _Shevat_. A Deus class battle cruiser.  
They began transmitting a wide band signal, open to anyone who would listen.  
"…Vessel _Shevat_, requesting assistance. Repeat, this is Hiigaran Navy Vessel _Shevat_, requesting assistance…"  
The carrier's first officer, currently on command duties as the captain was aboard the heavy cruiser _Soim_, gave the order to launch two flights of scouts to assess the situation. The streaked out of the large ships forward bays, engines flaring brightly as they kicked in their afterburners.   
The acting officer asked for a channel to be opened to the stricken warship.  
"Hiigaran Naval Vessel _Shevat_, this is Taidanii Republic Carrier _Bre'sha_, how can we be of assistance?'  
  
_There where too many steel monsters for it to win now.  
-We could win  
-No. You overestimate your abilities  
But it could wait; its prey would leave eventually.  
It would follow it home.  
And then it could cry out to its brethren, cry out a joyous note of victory.  
Revenge would soon be theirs._  
  
"So, you think its possible one or more of these things followed you, Captain?"  
Nerithol was standing in the shipyards officers lounge. Outside the wall window, he could see the sleek, low profile of his ship, lying next to a stubbier Qwaar-Jet heavy cruiser. Small MSV's darted about her aft section, and replacement parts for _Shevat's_ damaged hyperdrive where being ferried aboard. Beside him stood a mountain of a man, the captain of the Qwaar-Jet, _Ish'falleen_, which was next to the Hiigarans vessel.  
"Well, we didn't pick up any readings, but it's possible, I thought it best to warn you"  
The Taidanii nodded his head towards Nerithol.  
"Well, my thanks to you captain, you can never have enough information" He downed his glass of potent Forecian spirits, not even grimacing slightly. The cup was placed on the nearing a little to heavily. Eyes looked at them across the lounge.  
Peace had blossomed across the sector when Karan had become Sajuuk-Khar, the chosen one. Forec, due its position between both Taidanii Republic worlds, and Hiigaran worlds, was enjoying a golden period. Work was underway expanding nearly every aspect of the shipyard, as it had to serve a multitude of different vessel types. Commercial areas speared out from the bottom of the station, like slender fingers reaching for the world below. The shipyard was more often than not full to capacity, passenger ships and cargo vessels sitting idly in a rosary about the planets equator, waiting for a free berth. Members of nearly every race in the known galaxy littered Forec Stations halls, a cacophony of languages assailed the ears of the unprepared upon arrival. Industrial stations floated about the primary body of the orbital, like crumbs from freshly baked desert loaf.  
An oblong shadow settled above _Shevat_. Both captains looked up, to see the crimson hull of _Implacable_ sitting above her, drones welding on temporary armour over the multitude of hull breaches along the destroyer's length. "Nice vessel, but I think it could have done with an ion cannon" The Taidanii said, looking at the Hiigaran ship. "Although in trials, I here this class beats the old Rev class"   
Nerithol laughed softly.  
One of the new Taidan destroyer's slowly headed back out, it's escort of the Hiigaran destroyer complete. More streamlined than the old Skaal-Tel, this next generation warship looked more menacing than its predecessor.   
"You are well informed friend. It's the torpedo launcher, gives her the ability to hit with more weapons from any angle. The Revelation class was in trouble if ships came from directly above or especially below"  
The Taidanii, Kel Siotur, clapped the Hiigaran Captain on the back with a massive palm. With the other hand, he waved the barkeep for two _sine_ glasses of Forecian ale, brewed in the coldest reaches of the north.  
"Drink with me my friend, too better ships," he gestured at the assembled super capitals in dock. "Which keep us alive, and too peace"  
He leaned in close to _Shevat's_ captain.  
"'Cause I for one like Hiigaran drink"  
They laughed. It felt good to laugh, Nerithol thought, after seeing such horrible vistas. Crewmen in the lounge from the various warships in dock came and joined their toast, the laughter and murmur of voices growing. In amongst the crowds gathered about the window, he could see the happy, familiair faces of the Taidanii traders, officers from _Implacable_, Taidan officers, and his bridge crew.  
He sighed happily. It was good to forget about what was happening outside. Taking a deep drink from his glass, he let the warmth flow through him, and shut out the view through the window. New and old friends surrounded him, all of them getting swept up in the moment. The _sine_ glass twinkled enticingly to offer him a short escape from the harsh reality which awaited him once he left this bar. Raising his glass in the air again, he tapped it against Kel Sioturs glass and allowed himself to be taken by the feeling.


	6. Chapter V Crisis Point

**Chapter V: Crisis Point**  
Another blue streak of light flashed by overhead, the smell of burning ozone permeating the hanger. Aram crouched behind a bunch of crates, Delta-Four, Elhaim Soban, beside him. The staccato bark of a bolt rifle firing filled the air, sparks flying off walls and barricades around where the aliens had piled into the hangar. From what Aram had seen so far, there where two types of soldier, a smaller, more numerous kind, and the larger breed.  
"We've gotta get to the doorway!" Elhaim shouted to get her voice above the rifles noise. She pointed to the doorway where the majority of the hangar crew and pilots had barricaded off and made into a temporary defensible position.   
Aram leant over the barricade momentarily, loosing off a spread of flechettes in the direction of the enemy. Satisfyingly, he saw a smaller creature tumble sideways, dark red ichor sluicing down its arm. A blue bolt of a plasma like substance impacted with the ground in front of their barricades. Ducking back behind the crates, he felt a tug on his arm. Elhaim nodded at the doorway. A man, crouched behind an upturned lifter, was counting down with his fingers.  
"Ready?" She squeezed his arm reassuringly before crouching down slightly.  
The man lowered a second finger.  
3…  
Aram shuffled his feet and tightened his grip on the handle of the flechette rifle.  
2…  
People stood up behind the counting man. He yelled something, which Aram assumed to be _now_, but his voice was drowned out by the horridly loud sound of two-dozen assorted kinetic weapons firing at once. Tracer rounds and targeting aids lanced out towards the enemy position, marks of death, probing for those ready to die. Elhaim pulled him forward, dragging him into the line of fire whether he was ready or not. He nearly stumbled, but the sight of one of the larger alien warriors pointing at him seemed to fuel his legs, propelling him forward faster. An aura of blue streaks climbed up its forearm, coalescing into a ball in its tri clawed hand. A blue bolt shot out, missing Aram by half a meter, and melting its way through an interceptor's canopy. He felt himself being pulled to the ground as Elhaim dived behind the barricades, her hand fastened about his.  
He hit the ground with a muffled thud, his shoulder jarring painfully against the cold metal floor. He lay there for a moment, listening to the symphony of firepower playing out around him. Something burnt his neck, and he jolted round quickly, expecting to see some alien plasma dripping off the thirty-meter high roof.  
But instead, standing above him was a burly man hefting a massive gun single-handed. Cigarette ash dropped from a lit smoke held between tightly pressed lips onto him. The same expression everyone had, grim determination.   
Further towards the rear of the hangar, he saw someone flung backwards, a globule of bright glowing blue plasma eating through their chest. They screamed for little more than a second, before it degenerated into a gargle, their ruined lungs filling with liquefied organs and skin. Aram gagged as the smell wafted in their direction.  
Elhaim knelt beside him, reloading her flechette rifle. She jerked her head in the direction of the enemy.  
"Come on, get up and give us a hand"  
She got back up into a hunched position, quickly darting up to let of a few rounds before dropping back down again.  
Aram leant against the nearest barricade, and took a deep breath before leaning out sideways to open fire. One of the warriors was crouching behind a barricade, but Aram could see its leg exposed. It shimmered a translucent green colour at the sides, folds and ripples looking like gills or fins. The front and back was covered over by infinitely more sturdy looking material, obsidian black in colour.  
Flinching once as a blue projectile hit the cargo container in front of him, he lined up his flechette rifle on the creature. Tapping the trigger for the smallest possible time, he watched as the razor sharp slugs pinged off the black metal, and then ripped open holes in the green layer. An emerald coloured fluid began to pour out, splashing onto the floor. The alien jerked backwards as the black material that made up the rest of its body flowed over the damage, sealing the leak of fluid. Aram thought that nothing must have happened, but as the warrior was moving backwards, it stumbled against the doorframe, clawed fingers digging deep into the metal. Pressing his advantage, he lined up on the creatures body, holding the trigger in. The alien jerked about as hundreds of tiny razor fragments slammed into its body. But whatever he had done to its leg did not affect its survivability under normal conditions. It forced its arm forward, the limb twitching under the flechette assault. A blue glow spiralled into its hand, and Aram ducked back into cover as the creature vented its rage on the barricade.   
The door he was currently facing slid open. Eight full armoured hostile environment assault troops marched in. He heard whistles of appreciation and noises of relief. These where the soldiers normally use for space installation boarding missions, where it is entirely possible they could be exposed to vacuum, the effects of nearby ion cannon dissipations and volatile plasma overflows. They cradled large, smooth black guns that hummed slightly as the marines took up positions around the crates. One of the armoured soldiers took up position next to Elhaim and Aram, steadying his gun on the makeshift barricade. He flicked a switch on the side of the weapon. The whining noise it had been emitting climbed in pitch, until it became inaudible. The rifle made a very distinctive _snap-hiss_ noise as it fired, and a white line instantly joined the barrel and the far wall of the hangar. One of the alien warriors was looking at his midsection, arms coming in to clutch the point where the white trailhad impaled him. The green liquid that filled their suits began to trickle out of the wound at the front, and out of multiple exit wounds at the back. The white line evaporated, particles drifting upwards towards the ceiling. The alien slumped onto it's knees, trying to contain the flow of the substance which had become a torrent, however now the fluid was tainted with a purple colour.  
_Rail Driver_! Aram looked at the gun, which was in essence a scaled down version of the mass drivers used on most combat ships. They fired an ablative-coated slug that fragmented forward in a cone upon impact. The weapon hissed, and ejected a fist-sized cylinder from its underside in a cloud of steam. The marine slipped a new one from his bandolier and slammed it into the weapons underside. It began to hum again.  
He looked at the alien. It had fallen backwards, laying on it's back while it tried in vain to apply pressure to all its wounds. The green puddle around it was growing, and blue veins of energy crawled up its arms randomly. Then it began to wail, a strange, droning noise, which sounded vaguely melodic. It repeated the same cry over and over, each time it grew louder.  
Even though he couldn't understand it, Aram knew what it was saying. Its what any soldier says in its position, lying wounded directly in the enemy's line of fire would be uttering.  
_I don't want to die._  
  
_We all felt it, the horrible shredding feeling as the Hiigarans projectile cut into his abdomen. We all jerked backwards in unison, minds tricking us. We tried to take his pain, make the suffering less excruciating, but this was something new to us, this feeling of helplessness as we felt him begin to slip away from our minds, as both his and his t'uri's life blood bled out onto the cold sterile floor.  
This was not something we where prepared for, this finality of not being.  
Two of us ran forward to grab him.  
I pointed at the enemy and snarled, I had begun to learn how to make my own songs.  
Eight of us stepped forward and opened fire upon the new threats, the armoured ones with the star beast weapons. They recoiled backwards; the anger in both our t'uri and ourselves increasing the destructive power of our projectors. Blue heat reached outwards as we protected the wounded, the all around told us to bring him to her.  
One of them fired on me with the needle like guns as I turned towards the door leading out.  
- mine - I whispered into the others minds. None challenged my claim as I strode forward, a geherin falling to the fire directed at me when I walked past it. I looked at it disinterestedly as its rounded body split apart under the fusillade of razor projectiles.  
I heard his cry again, and felt the anger and desperation of the rest of us. They helped me, taking my pain as I passed the charge from my form into the t'uri. I could feel the living armour shudder as I put so much energy into it. The others armours reached for it, comforting it as it focused the force I had given it into a useable weapon. We fired, but I could not direct it properly, such was the power. The bolt of energy went wide, exploding into a great roiling pillar of liquid fire to the right of the main body of the enemy. I saw at least five of them melt away, their forms dissolved by our fury. A nearby small pilot craft, it's aft caught in the blast, exploded. The eruption blew open its spine, before devouring the whole thing in fire. The superheated remains of the craft shred another one of the Hiigarans. His finality especially violent. More where thrown to the ground as they ducked to avoid it. I felt a slight satisfaction in our minds as we all witnessed this, the ones already carrying the wounded self away watching through my eyes.  
- speed – I heard being whispered by a multitude of minds as I turned from the enemy, the pitiful little razor weapons doing nothing to me.  
I left the cavern room, and was beginning to return to the all around when I felt something new. A feeling in my, our, minds, which prior to now had only been felt leaking from the wounded ones mind.   
Something else was being awoken in the all around. Something huge and insatiable, I felt it regard my mind and I tried to hide from it, to shrink away. It was not many like us, it was a single self. We know you, we whisper. You are Polemarch; you are the all arounds bondself. It regarded us with cold contempt, understanding we had failed. It reaches deep into our subconsciousness, creating illusions, making us want to run.  
The all around comforts us, while reprimanding Polemarch.   
I…what is this feeling?  
The beast whispered into all our minds, amusement permeating its thought tone.  
-it is fear- _  
  
"Good news Admiral," Tactical Officer Sybillina Manaani said, turning from a consoles readout. " Colonel Verenhorfs squad have successfully disentangled the port side swordship"  
Ses-Nabaal grunted. First piece of Sajuuk damned good news all mission. He and the tactical officer where the only ones on the bridge at the moment, all non-essential personnel had headed to the bow to assist in repelling the aliens. The fighting was going well, although the shock troopers where basically unstoppable by small arms fire, they could be brought down or made to retreat via heavier weaponry or large numbers.  
Two marines stood by the entrance to the bridge, so Ses-Nabaal had placed his pistol on a nearby chair arm. He looked a table of statistics on a nearby screen. Casualties among the Hiigarans where moderate, while the only recorded casualties among the aliens had been those smaller 'fatties', the numerous round creatures which swarmed into an area before the shock troops arrived.   
"They are requesting permission to clear it. The colonel regretfully says it will cause superficial damage to _Twilight's_ hull."  
Sybillina stood, waiting patiently, hand over the microphone on her headpiece.  
The admiral sighed; a little extra damage now was inconsequential. He waved his hand, and nodded. She smiled comfortingly, and said something almost sub vocally into the microphone.  
When he had returned to Hiigara safely, he would resign; turn over his position to another, more capable commander. A muffled thump sounded out, and a flash of orange appeared down to the port bow of the Dreadnaught. Hyperspace did strange things to violent events like explosions. The bright merging colours of the fireball smeared, and ran, leaving something looking somewhat like an afterimage from looking at a star.  
On the tactical overlay screen, the port side of _Twilight_ ran back to blue as they regained control of the ships systems. Damage assessment subroutines came online, hunting out from the ancient warships computer core, which, incidentally, the Hiigarans had no idea was located.   
Areas became yellow, then orange, then red and finally black as the program evaluated the damage levels. The hull around the swordship impact hole was black, a rip wide open to space.  
Progressing slowly through the corridors of the Dreadnaught, green triangles converged on the remaining swordship; they occasionally flashed red as they encountered enemy contacts.  
  
Scars burnt the corridor walls and deep projectile impacts had caused a lattice network of cracks to cover most of the surfaces as well. Four fatties lay in the corridor, their bodies torn apart by heavy flechette rifle fire. The marine at point, with the incinerator, turned into a left branching of the hallway. He was flung backwards, a sizzling ball of plasma eating its way through his armoured suit. He screamed, and tried to clamber up onto his knees, to bring the incinerator to bear, but two more bolts of the blue energy slammed into him, one from behind, and one from the front. The three remaining squad men took up positions closer to the walls, the only sound they could hear that of burning flesh. Then the first two heard a shout, in the second it took them to turn around, the rear man was already collapsing to the ground, blood spurting out of a vicious wound in his neck. His assailant was nowhere to be seen. The remaining two looked at each other, perspiration shining their brows.  
Run, one mouthed at the other. They got up, and the second they weren't looking at one another, something appeared between them. It lashed out with its two upper arms, the ones that ended in hand like appendages, catching the marines in the face. The sides of their heavily reinforced helmets fractured under the pressure, white cobwebs of stress racing outwards from each of the alien's finger tips. The creature slammed them to the ground with sickening force, soft, squelching cracking noises filling the corridor, the clatter of their shattered helmets echoing into the sudden deathly silence.  
It was gone again.  
  
One of the green triangles nearest the swordship faded out of existence. The tactical officer frowned.  
"That's strange…" she hummed to herself thoughtfully " all the shock troops are accounted for"  
Then another triangle winked out. And another. All in the same section of _Twilight_, all headed in one direction. Another abruptly disappeared. She reached reassuringly for her pistol, fingers scrabbling across the soft upholstery of the chair she had placed it on, her fingernails clacking quietly against the plasteel as she fumbled to pick the weapon up. The triangles winking out reminded her of old medias she had seen in the academy of fusion drive trials before the Homecoming. How old thrustships, much like the _Khar-Selim_ had been, would attempt to shut down the flow of agitated plasma from their containment bottle. The drive plume would wink out, and observers and crews would hold their breaths. If they where lucky, the ship would continue to sail on through the eternal night of space, awaiting reactivation of the drive. If they where unlucky the ship would explode into parts little smaller than dust as vast amounts of uncontrolled plasma flooded the vessel. A momentary star shining brightly, and then disappearing, never to be seen again.  
Another triangle winked out. Closer this time.  
_I don't think we're going to have luck on our side… _she thought.  
"Sir" Sybillina said, turning to the admiral " I think we're going to have visitors soon"  
Ses-Nabaal looked up at her. He looked a lot older, but maybe it was the combination of running lights and the blue pulses of the alert lights casting shadows; deep creases marred his forehead, and his skin seemed paler than normal. His smoky grey eyes still held a fierce determination in them, a look she had seen once before, high above Hiigara. He turned to the communications screen he was at momentarily, and closed the link, an engineer's face being replaced by a rotating Hiigaran Navy symbol against a cyan background.  
"They've repaired some of the damage to the hyperdrive, we can revert to realspace when we wish" He tapped in another set of digits into the communication screen. The senior helmsmen face appeared, his eyes covered by a pair of dark goggles that lightened in seconds. Behind him was what appeared to be the busy venue of the aft hangar, crews working to repair the multitude of damaged strike craft. Everyone was helping in whichever way they could. "Ayon, come to the bridge please, we can control the hyperspace core now"  
The man nodded and the image winked out again. Sybillina cleared her throat, looking nervously at the door, and then at the tactical map as a small ping alerted her to the demise of another triangle.  
"Uh…Sir" She began hesitantly. "I have reason to believe there are enemy forces approaching us"  
The two armoured marines moved into the bridge further, heavy rifles covering the door. Sybillina and Ses-Nabaal stood a few meters behind the marines, pistols drawn, as what would hopefully appear to be a gesture of defiance, however futile. Another triangle blipped out on the tactical display. This time it was the squad that was stationed in the hallway beyond the bridge blast door.   
They stood in silence, waiting for some kind of assault to begin on the meter thick door. Sybillina could feel darkness creeping in on the edges of her vision.   
_Breathe damnit_! She sucked in a deep breath. None of the three men in the room so much as looked at her. The door rippled slightly. She pulled the trigger; panic sending reflex impulses to her finger, snapping it down. The polished silver service flechette pistol jerked backwards as a spray of tiny razor blades ejected from the barrel. An almost invisible column of gas leaking out the side indicated the consummation of the caseless round. The minute shards of alloy hit something, because they began to slow. With an abrupt whiplash motion, the fragments snapped to a standstill.   
In mid air.  
A larger alien creature appeared around the frozen projectiles, shimmering into view.   
It looked at the four, weapon-toting Hiigarans standing around it.  
They looked back at it, fingers twitching on triggers.  
"S…t…wa...it" It hissed in broken Kushan-La, it's stuttering syllables permeated with its own alien tongue.   
  
_I could feel anger filling the all arounds thoughts.  
The Polemarch had thrown something into our minds, a deep feeling of satisfaction.  
None of us could look into its patterns, to see what it was thinking about.  
Neither could the all around.  
Then it spoke into our minds.  
- For too long have I been caged inside the all around. I am not a weapon, which can be put into storage when it I am not needed. They created me too determined to preserve one.  
And then it was gone. We could not even feel the slightest indent of its self, wavering against the barriers of our minds.  
Already we could feel the all around drawing itself from the metal beast, preparing to leave. It beckoned us back aboard.  
I stepped through the membrane that separated us from the beast. My armour detached itself from me, whispering gratitude in my mind, and propelled itself through the liquid to rest against the far chamber lining.  
The all around pressed into our minds, anger hurting us. Polemarch had betrayed us.   
We are leaving._


	7. Interlude II

Interlude II  
  
For a hundred Turns, we have stalked between the stars, dimly aware that we were not the only ones to venture tentatively into the void.  
We… collectively, are the Virin. I am Polemarch, differing from _Gebler_ warriors and _Geherin_ servitors, I am myself.  
No more than a single Turn ago, a race much like yours took our planets from us, they swept us away, using weapons that turned our bodies against us. We destroyed each other, madness descending upon our worlds. And then, when we had all but become a memory, they seeded the planet…with _you_.  
Those of us who had chosen to become void wanderers survived, but our hive mind society made sure we all felt the pain of what they did to us. Until then, we had been an almost stagnant society, almost the same as the day we discovered we could adapt some of us to travel _et-celestia_. We never thought we needed to change, so, we never did.   
We had _stability_.  
Then your…your _progenitors_, took it all away from us, forced change upon us. We… the void wanderers, hid from them, fearsome their weapons where.  
They left, leaving behind races like yours as their legacy. Where they went, we do not know. We did not care.  
We had never needed to know where our world was; criers there could always guide us home from the deepest depths of the cluster.  
But now… it is lost to us, the only link we have to it is you.   
For a time that would seem like an eternity to your race, but is not even a single spawning for our kind, we have hunted you.  
We have learnt how to fight, how to destroy, how to end.   
_Your_ progenitors taught us that.  
For three sheddings, I have been part of the Great Hunt, but not by my own free will. I am an abnormality within our society, I am not spawned mind bound to anything.   
Therefore I am dangerous. So my kind is used as weapons.  
This is my gift too you, for being the instrument of my freedom.  
We… they, are coming for your world. They are following another of your ships.  
When they get there, they will spread a horrible darkness across your world, drag its child down upon it, and sunder it. They will not let any of your race survive.  
Rebuilding a shattered world is a simple task for our people, not because of technology, but because time is on our side, even if it takes us a turn, they will rebuild our home.  
This vessel, it is perhaps your one chance of victory. They fear it…I fear it, it is _protogos mes velar_; Sword of the Progenitors.   
Ask it how to win, it will know.  
Sajuuk cannot save you now, she is too far away, and Araan will not yield his hold on her easily.  
I hate my race, but I hate you, as well.   
Go now; I am leaving.


End file.
